Khyber Pass Indian Mess House

[caption id="attachment_210" align="aligncenter" width="500" caption="Mutton Saag, Mutton Jal Frezi and Chicken Mahkani"][/caption]

About 

Getting good Indian food in Hong Kong is not easy. If you go to most of the places on the island you're likely to be dissapointed by half hearted, almost bland, attempts at different curries and preheated onion bhajis. A much better bet is to head over to Chungking Mansions which clusters a lot of the local India community and promises a much more authentic experience. 

Khyber Pass has for a long time been my pick of the different offerings in the mansion. When I visited several years ago, Khyber Pass offered curries cooked so that their different flavours were more intense, a wider range of different types of dishes and breads, and a generally more pleasant atmosphere. 

The balance of spices in the sauces at Khyber is its main strength, although the tandori dishes are also supposed to be good. The saag curries have spinach potent in flavour with a nice course texture that goes best with tender white chunks of chicken. We had the mutton saag however, and the sauce was let down by large chunks of lamb that were tastless and far too tough.

Mutton jalfrezi suffered from the same poor quality meat. Really the lamb should break apart into soft chunks. The jal frezi also lacked that slight piquancy which can make jal frezi so interesting. It had nicely balanced spices, but didn't really leave you with a striking impression. The chicken mahkani was good however, with the really rich, subtly spice creaminess which makes this dish so satifying. 

Several other smaller complaints might further push me to look elsewhere. The popadoms came with tomato sauce. The waitress who took our order didn't really listen properly and kept suggesting different things in an attempt to push the price up. The restaurant now serves alcohol and although the didn't make a fuss about us drinking our own bottles, indicated that this was unwelcome in future. Other restaurants in Chungking allow you to bring your own. 

Directions

Chungking Mansions is located 36-44 Nathan Road. Entering the building from Nathan Road, you need to head to the back right hand elevator, and then go to the 7th floor. Alternatively if you ask the guys loitering out the front of the building, the chances are one of them will be eager to lead you to Khyber Pass and also to give you a 10% discount card.

Little Hanoi

About

If you're looking for authentic Vietnamese food in London, then this small restaurant, tucked into the streets near Liverpool Street station, might just do the trick. Other recommended Vietnamese restaurants can be found here.  

Their Cha Ca (a fish dish cooked in a metal basin) is excellent, the fish being cooked well and satisfyingly scattered with a liberal amount of dill that gives a very distinctive flavour. Fresh spring rolls really did taste freshly made, instead of the dried our versions you get in some restaurants, and came with a thick, slightly sweet dipping sauce. The pho was also good, although I've had better elsewhere.  

Directions

147 Curtain Road, Shoreditch, London. Nearest Tube - Old Street or Liverpool Street.

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Price

About £20 a person

Doraya Japanese Restaurant

About

This small restaurant is definitely one of the best places I’ve been to in Hong Kong for Donburi.  You can get other Japanese food here too, but their speciality seems to be tuna dishes such as negitoro (minced tuna over rice) and the tekkadon (thin sliced tuna over rice).  You could stick to these without ever being disappointed.

I went for the lightly seared tuna (Circa HK$100) and was really struck by how they handled the fish to bring out all its qualities. It was very delicately singed on the edges, giving a hint of cooked flavour which added to, rather than damaged, the stronger impact of the raw fish.  Small pieces of onion scattered over the slices added a nice hint of texture, without being too bold.

Each fish slice broke easily into small, succulent chunks when touched by chopsticks, and it was great to pick these up with a little of the swollen, perfectly cooked Japanese rice below. The fish had a subtle yet distinctive, very pure flavour and melted in the mouth in the way that distinguishes really fresh, high quality fish. It had the buttery, subtle effect of tuna I’ve occasionally paid much more for at other places.

It’s rare to have a donburi dish and for each mouthful to have the same subtlety and delight that an individual piece of sushi might offer, but this place achieved that. 

Directions

415 Lockhart Rd, Causeway Bay

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Also branches at 8 Tung Choi St in Mongkok and 10 Cameron Rd in TST

Notes

Open until 2am Monday thru Thurs, then 3am weekends.

Telephone:      

• Causeway Bay 2834-8851        


•  Mong Kok 2366-8072            


• Tsim Shah Tsui 2300-1790

Crowne Plaza Brunch

About

Ever wished you could spend Sunday sitting in the sun, sipping champagne and sampling from a selection of world foods, while somebody else takes care of the children. Now, with The Crowne Plaza Guragon’s fixed price brunch (Rs. 2,450), you can do just that.

Rather than produce extravagant new dishes, Head Chef Jai seeks to serve simple, recognisable items of an exceptional standard. Also, unlike many buffets where food is left standing for hours, Jai says the dishes are cooked continuously to ensure ‘absolute freshness’.

The seafood on offer is incredibly fresh, flown in the same morning from South India. “Most important about my brunch is my seafood,” say Jai proudly. This is justified by huge, wonderfully succulent prawns that taste like they’ve been caught only moments ago. The salmon is cured instead of smoked, leaving it refreshingly full of flavour. The nigiri sushi is thankfully not overwhelmed by the wasabi.

Jai stresses that he doesn’t make salads, saying antipasti and tapas offer infinitely more delight. The intense flavour of the Parma ham and butternut squash lightly crisped by the grill, both support this claim. Slender asparagus, cooked so that they still have a nice bite, are also very satisfying.

Indian dishes are expectedly excellent with a subtly spiced biryani and a rich saag dish. The Chinese dim sum has disappointingly chewy rice wrappers, the other Chinese dishes also look uninspiring. The choice of European dishes is more enticing, with French style cornfed chicken and slow roasted pork. The bangers and mash offer hearty comfort food, its sausage stuffed with herbs and oozing rich sauce.

The brunch’s choice of desserts is equally sumptuous, from European cakes, to crepes, to a chocolate fountain. The chocolate and pecan tarte match those found in French patisseries, with dark rich chocolate and a nice crisp crust. The pineapple strudel has a dense filling, but lacksthe light, flaky pastry that can be a delight.

Overall, the quality of the ingredients and preparation here is astounding. And if you have children, they too can enjoy a brunch more tailored to their own tastes (Under fives — free, six to twelve — at half price), together with a magic show, movie screening, and game consoles.

Directions

 Site 2,Sector 29, NH 8, Gurgaon,Haryana, India

Fire Restaurant @ Park Hotel

About

If you’re looking for something to ignite your palate this winter, then Park Hotel’s restaurant Fire is the place. They’ve launched a new menu that seeks to introduce authentic regional dishes. The new menu succeeds in getting bac k to something elemental in eating — the pleasure of a particular texture or the joy of a certain taste.

The appetizers are small parcels packed with flavour. The parda paneer (Rs.525) nicely combines supple cottage cheese with a firmer, flaky saffron bread wrapper. The spongy cottage cheese soaks up the strong saffron juices to give each bite a really intense flavour. The gilawti kababs (Rs.625) are made with meat passed through the mincer nine times to produce a deliciously dense, paste-like texture and a rich taste laden with nuts and spice.

The main course shows similar attention to sensual detail. Tandoori pomfret (Rs.975) has been carefully prepared to preserve some of the fish’s own delicate flavour, the wonderfully soft white flesh just lightly tinged by the tandoor’s smoke and spice. Khichda (Rs.1275) has a really hearty balance of softened lentil sauce and slightly tougher pieces of slow cooked pork. A delightful, zesty freshness is added by the ginger and lemon juice mixed in at the last minute. The Naga chilli garlic pork (Rs.825) showcases the diversity of Indian food. Its unadorned meat is slow simmered until sumptuously soft. As each piece melts in the mouth, it gradually releases the distinctive, lip-tingling spice of the potent raja chilli.

Equally enjoyable is the masala fried quail, which has rust red skin beautifully crisp. It is satisfying to tear through the crisp coating to reach the soft, succulent white flesh beneath. Many menus run out of steam by the time it comes to the dessert, but Fire manages to keep burning. The sangom kheer (Rs.425) uses special Manipuri black rice with an intriguing nutty flavour, drowned in a buttery milk sauce with just a teasing hint of spice. Pan ki rasmalai (Rs.475) contrasts a rich, bready texture with a creamy outer coating. Betel nut at the centre produces the palate cleansing, menthol taste commonly found in paan.

If you have a gourmet within you, then Fire’s new menu will leave you delighted. Even if you don’t care about the spices , or the way your meat has been cooked, Fire’s menu gives the pleasure of eating exceptionally prepared food.

Directions

The Park Hotel

15, Parliament Street, New Delhi 110 001 
T: + 911 2374 3000
F: + 911 2374 4000 

 

Mainland China

About

 

When people think of Chinese food, they tend to think of diced meat and vegetables fried in an oily wok over a roaring flame. But Mainland China’s the recent Clay Pot Festival drew on Chef Ram’s knowledge to introduce a very different kind of Chinese cooking. Legend has it that dishes cooked slowly in clay pots were invented to restore the appetite of one of China’s early emperors. The cooking technique is healthier than frying, using much less oil, and allows the different aromas of the dishes to remain intact.

The braised chicken with orange and black bean at the festival which ended this past Sunday, showcased the cooking method’s potential to produce tender meat saturated with flavour. The sauce beautifully balanced the pungent black beans with the sweetness of orange. It was the slight, tingling spice from chillies that carried the sauce beyond the usual ‘sweet and sour’ combinations.

A pot of Hunan chilli prawns (Rs. 495) was a little less exhilarating. The prawns were nice and plump but they didn’t really combine with the sauce all that effectively. Although this sauce had the earthy brown colour characteristic of dishes from China’s Hunan region, it lacked that tantalising spiciness which also makes them so distinctive.

However, this was more than made up for by the drunken chicken, a legendary Chinese dish that’s virtually impossible to find elsewhere in India. It is prepared by soaking small cubes of chicken for over four hours in Chinese wine so that their toughness breaks down and they emerge meltingly tender and full of the wine’s potent fruity flavours. The dish was a good example of how Chinese food can also offer some very subtle flavours, alongside radiant sweet and sour and sizzling chilli.

Besides, the two vegetable pots were also satisfying accompaniments. The exotic vegetables in chilli basil sauce had baby corn cooked al-dente to hold their freshness. The dish was made more interesting than the standard Chinese vegetable dishes by the liberal use of fresh basil which gave its sauce an earthy texture. Similarly, the other dish, Yuling’s hot and numbing vegetables, gained added piquancy from the numbing spice of Sichuan peppercorns.

Overall, the clay pot dishes offered further proof that Mainland China, at Greater Kailash Part II, can produce some of the most interesting Chinese food in India. The restaurant’s décor matched the restrained interpretation of Chinese style shown in the food, with simple paper lanterns and smoked glass screens.